


Doppleganger

by QuietLittleVoices



Series: The Other Side [3]
Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The X Files, Canon Typical Ambiguity, Coming Out, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Holidays, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 05:50:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15406380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietLittleVoices/pseuds/QuietLittleVoices
Summary: It's the winter holidays in King Falls, but even supposed vacation time doesn't mean you're free from the weirdness.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with a real non-crack fic! This is the second 'plot' fic in the series and there is at least one more like this coming, and at least one... different from this but different from the 'bad blood' one. When I'm finished posting the chapters of this, the works' end notes will have more info one what I mean.
> 
> It's a much less clear cut 'X Files AU' even than the first fic, and more of an 'inspired by and using the rules of' type of AU? I want to be clear that Sammy and Ben aren't direct parallels for either Mulder or Scully but that they embody different parts of those characters in this fic and I've sort of mashed it all together to create what you see before you. You can ask away about that in the comments and I will gladly tell you like.. a lot of my Reasons for doing certain things lol
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!!

 Ben’s phone rang while he was helping his mom, Betty, hang up their multi-faith decorations in the living room.

“Hey, Mary,” he answered easily, wedging the phone between his ear and shoulder as he tried to help his mom string up a set of lights in the front window. “How are you doing?”

Mary didn’t answer and Ben was about to hang up, figuring it was accident, when he heard her breathing close to the phone. It sounded ragged and wet in his ear. “The other Tim is here,” she said, voice rough, and Ben almost dropped the lights.

He set them down carefully and walked away, letting his mom see his concerned face so she knew something was happening. “Where is he? Are you and the kids safe?”

Her breathing picked up. “Yeah, we’re - the kids and I are in my and Tim’s room. The other one just - he just showed up out of nowhere and grabbed Tim and they started fighting. I don’t know what to do, Ben.”

“Hang on, just - don’t open the door, okay, I’ll be right there,” Ben answered, turning around and grabbing the car keys off the hook. “I have to hang up to drive, will you be alright? It’s only a few minutes. Call Troy.”

Mary scoffed at that, even though he could still hear the tension in her voice. “Of course I called Troy first, Ben. I just - trust you, and you know what happened last time.”

“Yeah.” Ben shoved his feet into his old running shoes, not caring that the backs bent under his heel. “Okay, I have to go but I’ll be right there. Promise.” He hung up the phone, opening the front door. “Mom, I’ll be back!” he called. “I have to go to Mary’s.”

He knew he’d have to answer for it later, but he didn’t wait for his mom’s reply.

 

“I’m not gonna fit in that,” Sammy announced when Ben lead him to his car in the airport parking lot. “Is there even room for my suitcase?”

Ben rolled his eyes and opened the trunk. “Dude, it’s fine. Give it to me.” He took Sammy’s suitcase made a show of putting it in effortlessly, undercut somewhat by the fact that it filled the entire trunk. He opened the passenger door and went around to the driver’s side. “Are you gonna get in or what?”

Sammy eyed the seat suspiciously but got in. The dashboard was a bit too low and the space underneath it a bit too small for Sammy to fit his legs in comfortably even after he shifted the seat as far back as it would go - which wasn’t far, considering the fact that his suitcase was wedged in between the seats and the back of the car. He gave up trying to contort himself into the seat and rested his knees against the dashboard awkwardly. “I can’t believe you own a fucking Smart car,” he muttered as Ben pulled the tiny vehicle out of the parking lot.

Ben just shrugged, seemingly unconcerned about his terrible choice of car. “It’s fuel efficient, and great for the city. I can park in basically any space left - not that that’s really a problem out here.”

“But you never drive anywhere,” Sammy retorted. “You always make me drive when we go out, so your carbon footprint isn’t really improved.”

“Carpooling is still better! And anyway, when do we go out, dude?” Ben asked. “I can’t even imagine you in a bar.”

Sammy shrugged because Ben wasn’t wrong. “I don’t know. When I go to your apartment for movie night? Oh - three months ago, I picked you up so we could go to Reagan’s birthday party.”

“I would drive to your apartment if you ever invited me,” Ben answered, trying for a light tone and failing as the earnestness of his curiosity won out. 

“Yeah, well. Now I definitely don’t want your car in my visitor spot, so consider that,” Sammy replied.

“Whatever,” Ben muttered. “It’s a good car, can we stop slandering it?”

Sammy raised his hands in surrender. “For now.”

 

“This isn’t your moms’ house,” Sammy commented as they pulled into a driveway.

Ben gave him a confused look. “No,” he agreed, looking at Sammy as if he was missing something obvious. “It’s not.”

Sammy pressed his lips together. “ _ Why _ are we at Mary and Tim’s house?”

“Because we need to talk to Mary,” Ben replied.

Ben’s expression hadn’t changed and it was just making Sammy more confused. “Okay, but  _ why _ ?”

It was as if something dawned on Ben all of a sudden, his eyes widened and his lips parted. “Oh, shit, did I - what did I say on the phone last night? Did I not tell you?”

Sammy shook his head. “I guess not. You just said ‘hey, do you wanna come to King Falls tomorrow?’.”

“Dude, I’m sorry. I should have explained - okay. Before we go in there, there’s something you need to know,” Ben said. “Mary called me last night because the second Tim showed up. The first one.” Ben waved his hand as if to try and clear away the confusion. “The Tim that came back first, not the one that we helped get back to her. That one came back. Tim One. He broke into their house and started fighting Tim Two, the one we helped. Mary called me, and I showed up just after Troy, but his sirens had already scared them  _ both _ off.”

“So Tim is missing… again?” Sammy replied slowly.

Ben nodded. “That’s what it seems, yeah.”

“Is this… are we working a case right now?” Sammy asked. “Did you talk to Spears?”

“Technically we aren’t, so no. We’re just helping out a friend right now,” Ben said diplomatically. “I don’t know what’s going on right now and figured you could help - whether or not this turns into something, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“You can take the lead, since I didn’t see what happened.” Sammy opened the door and made a show of unfolding himself from the car, stretching his back dramatically as he stood in the driveway. Ben just rolled his eyes as he got out.

When Mary answered the door, Sammy could immediately tell that she hadn’t slept in the time between whatever had happened the night before and them arriving. She didn’t quite have bags under her eyes from one lost night of sleep, but her eyelids were drooping slightly as Sammy watched her, and her hair was obviously unbrushed and slung hastily back into an uneven ponytail. She smiled at them weakly. “Hey there, Ben. Sammy,” she greeted, moving off to the side. “Come in out of the cold, won’t you?”

They thanked her and walked in, shutting the door behind them before taking off their jackets.

“Did Ben fill you in, there, Sammy?” Mary asked as she lead them to her permanently cluttered living room.

“Yes, he did, but I want to hear a bit of it from you, if that’s okay,” Sammy replied, picking a stuffed animal off the couch and carefully placing it on top of a stack of card games on the coffee table so that he could sit down. “Where were you when the other Tim showed up?”

She took a deep breath and sat in a chair next to the couch. “We were having dinner,” she started. “Tim was having a good day - he’s had some problems since he came back, you know, but…. But yesterday was a good day. Then there was a knock on the door, and Tim answered it. Before we knew it, they were both yelling and I looked and saw what was happening and took the kids up to our room. That’s when I called Troy and Ben.”

Sammy nodded. “Okay. So, after that - they just ran off into the forest? Is that right?”

“That’s what Troy told me,” she confirmed. “He said that he could see them as he drove up, but they were already on the edge of Switzer Forest. By the time he got out of the car, they were gone.” She ran a hand down her face. “I just want my Tim back. Things were just starting to really settle down.”

Ben reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re gonna try and help you,” he said, and Sammy wanted to warn him about promises you can’t guarantee but even he wanted to offer the same reassurances to Mary. She looked exhausted and frustrated and Sammy understood exactly what she was going through. 

They said their goodbyes and promised again to look into it as best as they could, though Sammy reminded her (and Ben) that they weren’t currently working. 

“I’m not sure why you called me anymore,” Sammy said when they got back into the car. “The two Tim’s are probably at the Science Institute, but we can’t go there without a solid reason. Leland Hill won’t hesitate to press charges unless we have authorization. Which you just told me we don’t have.”

Ben hesitated before answering, pretending that he needed a moment to fiddle with the radio. “Honestly, this was… an excuse, I guess. Or a proof of concept?”

Sammy didn’t want to hope for anything. “What do you mean?”

“Like - okay, this is gonna sound crazy. I know you didn’t believe the whole clones thing before, but a few days ago I saw Emily down by Lake Hatchenaw? And then I went to the library and she was there and said she had been all day,” Ben admitted. “I know you don’t believe this stuff, so I didn’t want to tell you about that. But with the Tim stuff rearing its ugly head again, I figured - hey, you know about that. I’m still not sure where you stand on it but it’s a known factor.”

Sammy tried to push away his disappointment that this was obviously, completely work-related. “How do you know it was her?” he asks, shifting into a more professional mindset despite the situation. “What if it was just a woman who looked like her?”

“Well, it  _ wasn’t _ Emily - not really. But they did look exactly like her - I was pretty close, I saw her face.” Ben’s jaw shifted and he looked tense.

“You would know Emily’s face,” Sammy teased, and Ben reached out blindly to swat at him. 

“Shut up,” he muttered. “It was a clone, I’m sure of it. You don’t have to believe me - clearly you don’t - but just. Just trust me? We need to find something so we can talk to the Science Institute about this without getting arrested.”

“I don’t think we’ll find anything else tonight,” Sammy replied, because even despite the time different his flight had been in the late afternoon - the only one he could get at the last minute - and the sun was starting to go down, casting a sleepy glow through the tree-lined roads.

 

Betty fed them dinner when they got back.

“This was great, Ms. Arnold,” Sammy said after he finished his plate.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Betty,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s the least I could offer, since Ben called you all the way out here on your holidays. Hopefully you boys can wrap it up so you can get back home - I wouldn’t want you to miss your family, since you’re both so busy!”

Sammy shifted in his seat awkwardly, looking down at his empty plate. “I, uh - I wasn’t really doing anything,” he admitted. “I was just going to be. Alone.” For over a decade he’d spent the holidays with Jack and Lily, ever since he’d met them, but Lily hadn’t spoken to him in ten months and Jack - Sammy tapped his fork on the plate, letting the ringing interrupt his train of thought. “My parents are alive, we just don’t… have a relationship.” It wasn’t something he normally told people, and from the look Ben was giving him from his side he clearly hadn’t told him, but there was something about Betty’s so entirely motherly demeanour that made him want to tell her things. And he didn’t want her to assume he was an orphan and express pity for that reason - it would just feel dishonest.

Betty reached across the table and put her hand on his. “Oh, dear. If I’d know that, I would have forced Ben to take you back here with him when he came down!” She clapped her hands together. “You’ll have to stay, it’s decided. Even if you boys don’t have any work to do, you’re staying until your beaks’ over, Sammy, and that’s that. You can come back for any holiday you celebrate, even if we haven’t before - I feel like I only see the two of you when you’re working, anyway.”

“I don’t want to impose-”

“Nonsense,” Betty interrupted. “No imposing with family.”

 

“Mary, Mary, slow down,” Ben begged to the phone, letting himself into the guest room that Sammy was staying in. He flipped on the lights and sat down on the edge of the bed without saying anything to Sammy, who just sat up and rubbed his face, annoyed and confused at the sudden imposition. “Here, you’re on speaker. Tell me again what’s happened?”

Mary took a shaky breath. “Tim is trying to break into the house!” she said, and Sammy felt her stress run through him. 

“Are you and the kids safe?” he asked.

“Yes, all the doors and windows are locked. Can you -”

“We’re leaving now, Mary,” Ben replied, standing up finally and motioning for Sammy to get out of bed. “Can you tell…  _ which _ Tim it is?” he asked cautiously.

Mary let out a frustrated sigh. “No. But I’d think it’s the bad one, ‘cause he’s real angry right now and my Tim doesn’t get that angry.”

“Okay,” Ben said placatingly. “Okay, we’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and turned to Sammy. “C’mon, dude. You heard her. Up and at ‘em!”

“Let me put on clothes?”

Ben sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine, just be quick! I’m gonna start the car,” he said, and ran out of the room.

Sammy allowed the urgency of the situation to carry him as he threw on the first set of clothing he found in his suitcase as quickly as he could and followed Ben out to the car.

 

Troy was already there with the sirens on his cruiser blaring. It was as they were pulling up into Mary’s driveway that Troy was walking back from the edge of the Jensen property as it met Switzer Forest, reaching into the window of his car, and turning off the sirens. 

“Hey, boys,” Troy greeted tiredly as they got out of Ben’s tiny car. “You’re out here to see about the commotion, too?”

Sammy nodded solemnly. “Mary called us a few minutes ago,” he confirmed. “Can you tell us what’s just happened?”

Troy sighed. “He got away again. Dunno which Tim it was, of course - I have a guess, but. You know how it is. Soon as he could hear my sirens, he bolted off. I could see him at first, so I tried to follow, but… got dark in there real fast, and I left my flashlight in the car, so I couldn’t keep following. He’s long gone, now.”

Ben let out a frustrated noise. “Does Mary know yet? Is she still locked inside?”

“I was just about to tell her, if you wanted to join me,” he said, inclining his head towards the door. 

They followed him up the steps, Sammy hanging back a little so he didn’t take up too much room in the small front porch. Mary didn’t cry when Troy broke the news to her, but her face fell. Sammy wanted to go over and comfort her, but he knew he couldn’t bear it - her hope for an improving future was so recently taken away from her, and the rawness of the emotions that he could see on her face was already too much for him to look directly at. 

“I just can’t believe this is happening again,” she said, bracing one of her hands against the doorframe and letting a bit of her tiredness show in the slump of her shoulders.

A third car pulled up and Ben and Sammy shared a look. “Is it a party out here?” Sammy muttered quietly, and Ben put his hand over his mouth to hide his reaction.

The woman who got out of the car and rushed over to them looked just like Mary. She pushed them aside and threw her arms around Mary, who immediately let go of all the tension in her body and allowed herself to be held.

“That’s Peggy,” Ben said quietly to Sammy, who nodded. He remembered Ben mentioning Mary having a twin sister, and it made sense that she would have been on the call list during a stressful situation.

The three men backed off the porch a little to give the women some room. As they watched awkwardly, unsure of if they needed to leave or not, Peggy tensed and Mary pulled away, suddenly assuming a caring role.

Sammy watched as Peggy froze completely, staring off at a spot over Mary’s shoulder, and then when she moved again she couldn’t get her words out. She repeated “It’s okay” several times before falling back into rhythm and comforting her sister once again.

“I think we can head off,” Sammy told Ben quietly, who nodded. Luckily, Peggy hadn’t blocked them in when she had arrived, so they escaped easily and quickly, followed by Troy.

“That… seemed kind of like what Mary described the other Tim doing,” Sammy admitted. “Was that… normal?”

“What? Peggy’s seizure?” Ben asked. “She has epilepsy, dude. You didn’t know, so it’s fine, but - yeah. They’re not grand mal or anything - I’m not really sure on the details, but she’s always had them. I was never friends with her in high school, but that’s my understanding.”

“Oh,” Sammy replied lamely. “My bad, I guess.”

Ben shrugged. “Just don’t mention it to them, would by my best bet. Mary’s hurting enough right now, you know?”

“Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

Sammy and Ben went back to the Arnold’s house and helped Betty with decorations, taking a break to play a game when Emily called and invited them out for lunch at Rose’s diner. 

Sammy realized that maybe the invitation had been to  _ Ben _ when they walked in and Emily looked a little surprised to see him. She masked it quickly with a smile, though. 

“What are you doing here, Sammy?” she asked happily, giving them both a hug before sitting back down. “Not spending the holidays with your family?”

“Tim disappeared again, Emily,” Ben said quickly, looking over at Sammy as he shifted the conversation.

Sammy nodded gratefully. “Ben called me in to help,” he confirmed, hoping that she would leave the topic and not ask again.

“I also told him that I saw your clone,” Ben added, and Emily bit her lip.

“I think I saw a few, too,” she admitted. “Just… around town, I’d see someone and then I’d see them again.”

“So close to each other?” Ben asked. “Only the two Tim’s have been seen together - when I saw your double, it was out by the lake and you were in town.”

She nodded. “I mean, I can’t be sure with most of them, but… pretty sure.”

“Maybe it’s just twins,” Sammy suggested. “Are these people you knew, or just random people?”

Ben pressed his lips together. “I don’t think so, Sammy, but - well. There were… a few sets of twins when I was in high school? I can think of four identical twins from then, off the top of my head,” he admitted. “It’s just common here.”

Emily nodded. “There’s a lot of young families here with twins - there’s a whole bunch that frequent the library, like five or six sets under fifteen that I see weekly. I always thought it was just… the rise of using in vitro,” she admitted. “But they’re mostly identical, so - that’s not how that works.”

“Like you said, Ben, it’s probably just common,” Sammy said quickly, seeing the rabbit hole that the two were about to jump down. But he was too late.

“Do you think they’ve been doing this for a long time?” Emily asked.

Ben shook his head. “No - the Science Institute has only been here for a few years, right? They set up here while I was a resident.”

“Yeah, but - that’s a lot, don’t you think?”

“It is,” Sammy interrupted. “It really sounds like a lot, but you can’t just jump to decades of human cloning. Especially when the Science Institute has only  _ existed _ for about fifteen years, and only been here for the last five. It’s probably just in vitro, like Emily said. We have tons of coworkers with twin kids, Ben.”

Ben gave him a look. “Please name three of our coworkers for me. Please.”

“Barry Weiss, Layla Harrison, and Reagan Spears,” Sammy said triumphantly.

“You  _ have  _ to know the last one doesn’t count.”

Sammy shrugged. “I don’t have to remember their names to be stopped in the hallway to look at pictures of their kids.”

“When has this  _ ever _ happened to you?” Ben demanded. “Because it doesn’t happen to me, and you’ve got way more of an antisocial reputation.”

There was an answer, but Sammy wasn’t going to say it right there in the middle of the diner. Jack loved kids, and would ask after their coworkers kids all the time, and Sammy was usually present so the same coworkers that would talk to Jack now talked to him. He just shrugged, instead. “I’m just saying - you guys are making a lot out of nothing, okay? There’s no way, it’s not possible.”

“You of all people should know anything is possible,” Ben said reproachfully. “But I know you don’t.”

 

There wasn’t anything they could do. Both Sammy and Ben wanted to go to the Science Institute, but with no concrete leads, evidence, or support they knew they’d just end up in the back of Troy’s cruiser when all was said and done. They had no direction to look for Tim other than that, and it wasn’t an option, so they went back to the Arnold’s house and Ben announced that it was a holiday movie night.

Ben was just setting up the DVD player with a stack of disks when Betty came in the front door.

“I think I saw Tim when I was going into town earlier,” she told them. “Aren’t you boys looking for him again?”

Sammy sat up straight and Ben stood to attention. “Where?” Ben asked.

“Out in Perdition Woods, it looked like he was setting out on one of the hiking trails.” She grimaced slightly. “It looked like the one heading up to - to that spot, you know. I don’t know what he’d be doing out there, but nothing good comes of it.” She shook her head and finished taking her jacket and boots off. “I hope you boys aren’t planning to follow him up there.”

Sammy felt his whole body tense. He couldn’t be certain, but he could guess what she was referring to - there was only one spot in Perdition Woods that King Falls residents were reluctant to name. Ben looked over at him and noticed the tension in his body. “What’s up, dude?” he asked, moving over to where Sammy was on the couch.

Sammy shook his head, but Ben didn’t allow that.

“Please, talk to me,” he said quietly, and Sammy noticed Betty discreetly leaving the room. “What’s wrong?”

Sammy tapped his fingers anxiously against his leg. “I’ve just… heard things about that place before,” he admitted.

Ben looked at him, confused. “When? We’ve never had to deal with it in our work, before. I know about it because I grew up here.”

“It’s, well…” Sammy took a deep breath. “I heard about it from Troy.”

“Okay,” Ben replied slowly. “But why are you so worked up? Troy just mentioning it wouldn’t get you like this, hell - you’re acting like you  _ believe _ the stories.”

Sammy felt an awful, nervous laugh come out of him. “I don’t know, Ben. It’s just - it’s something I’ve been looking for. Not for a case, just - I’ve just been looking into it.”

“Why, though?” Ben asked, coming to sit next to him. “What happened, Sammy?”

Sammy shook his head again. “I really don’t wanna talk about it. Just - if the Science Institute is connected to it somehow, then I’ll tell you. But for now it isn’t - it isn’t relevant. It’s personal.”

Ben looked at him in silence for a moment and Sammy felt like a bug under a microscope, and remembered all at once that Ben was actually incredibly smart and perceptive. “Okay,” Ben finally agreed. “You don’t have to tell me now if you don’t want to. But if it becomes relevant, you need to, okay? And if -” Ben sighed. “You know I’m here for you, right? If there’s something happening, then I can help you out, even if it’s not work related. You’re my best friend, hell - you’re practically my brother.”

Sammy smiled at him. “I know. And I’ll tell you, just - just not right now, okay? I don’t want to distract from helping Mary and Tim.”

Ben grinned at him, full and bright, and hopped off the couch, launching them back into some form of normalcy. “Okay, what movie do you want to start with? And don’t say Die Hard - it isn’t a Christmas movie.”

Sammy settled into the couch. “You pick,” he said, and Ben turned his back to load the DVD player.

For all Ben talked about helping Sammy no matter what, Sammy couldn’t help the little voice in the back of his head that tried to convince him that the truth of the situation would be the one thing Ben wouldn’t be able to help with. That he’d finally see Sammy as the failure and fraud he was, never living up to expectations or potential and lying to everyone around him. But it wasn’t the time for that, so Sammy pushed the thoughts down to the place deep in his head where he kept them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this!! I really appreciate them and they help me work through the rest of the series haha


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like with the last two, this is the last Plot chapter and the next is an epilogue!

Ben barged into Sammy’s room again. “Something’s happened at the Science Institute,” he announced, flipping on the lights and moving to shake Sammy’s shoulder.

Sammy waved him off, already feeling alert at the urgency in Ben’s tone. “What happened?”

“Emily just called me to say there was something going on the Science Institute but she doesn’t know what,” Ben said.

Sammy couldn’t help but scowl a little. “We  _ know _ there’s something going on there. What’s so urgent you had to wake me up at-” he looked at the clock, “- four fifty-seven in the morning?”

Ben blinked. “Well,” he said stiltedly, “it’s just - she meant like, right now.”

“What are we gonna do about it, Ben? What do we know?” he asked. “Because we still can’t just waltz on in there, if you’ve forgotten.”

“She heard it on the radio so let’s - let’s call in, talk to them. Maybe they have more information,” Ben suggested.

Sammy sighed. “Sure. Dial them up.”

“Cool. Emily gave me their hotline number - I don’t know why she had it. Well - doesn’t matter. Anyway.” Ben sat down and dialed the number, putting it on speaker so that Sammy could hear the dial tone.

It only rang twice before it was being picked up. “We didn’t have a hotline call scheduled, unless my producer forgot to tell me about it, so who do we have here?” asked a horribly familiar voice.

Sammy felt his body go cold all over and he froze in place, staring at the phone in Ben’s hand as Ben replied, unfazed and unrecognizing. Because why would be recognize them? “Hi, this is Agent Ben Arnold with the FBI, and I’m here with my partner, Agent -”

“Hi, Lily,” Sammy interrupted, and was sickly gratified to hear her sharp intake of breath. “How are you doing? It’s been a while.” His tone was sharp and not at all conversational, but he didn’t want to be civil with her. Ben stared at him, concern and confusion clear on his face, but Sammy just ignored him.

“Sammy,” she replied, voice just as tense. “What are you doing here?” she replied instead of answering him. “Don’t you have your cushy, important job up in DC to get back to?”

“That ‘cushy job’ is why I’m here, actually,” he replied, despite the slight lie. “We were told you knew something about what happened at the Science Institute tonight. Didn’t realize you had moved here, let alone started working at the radio station, though. Care to explain any of that?”

“I don’t owe you anything, Stevens,” she said tersley. “I have half a mind to hang up on you right now.”

“Then do it,” he challenged.

“Please don’t - Lily, is it? I really want to talk to you about the Science Institute. What happened?” Ben asked.

Lily sighed. “I’ll talk to you. I won’t talk to  _ him _ .”

“Oh, calm down, Lily. I’m not the one who ran away,” Sammy bit out. “You left without saying anything - I  _ tried _ to find you, I  _ wanted _ to talk to you. But you were gone. You told people not to give me your number - what did you expect? I wasn’t going to look for you if you didn’t want to be found. I  _ respected _ you enough for that.”

“You never respected me!” she replied, voice raising. “You didn’t even tell me that Jack was missing! I had to hear about it from the police.”

“You weren’t talking to us, of course I didn’t call you,” Sammy argued. “You hadn’t spoken to either of us in a month - I didn’t even know you were home.”

“Even if I wasn’t, I would have come home immediately if I’d known. It doesn’t even matter - of the two of us, I’m the only one  _ doing _ anything about it now. I’m looking for answers. What are you doing all the way out in DC?”

Sammy set his jaw and took the phone from Ben. “Don’t pretend to know what I’m doing, Lily. I haven’t given up on Jack, okay? I’m looking for the truth, because I  _ know _ there’s something to find. I’m standing my ground - I didn’t just  _ leave _ .” He hung up the phone and threw it on the bed lightly, because even in his emotional state he didn’t want to break Ben’s phone.

Silence rushed to fill the void left in the room and Sammy could only hear his own heartbeat, blood rushing in his ears, and Ben’s steady breathing.

Ben was the one who broke the silence, speaking softly. “Do you want to tell me what just happened here?”

“Not really,” Sammy replied.

“I was just asking to be nice,” Ben admitted. “Let’s start with - who was that?”

Sammy pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Lily Wright.”

“‘Wright’ as in - your old partner?” Ben asked.

Sammy nodded. “Lily was - is. Lily  _ is _ Jack’s older sister.”

“Okay,” Ben said, his voice steady and measured like he was talking to a wild animal. “I heard a lot of… of accusations in that phone call, but I don’t think that I understood a lot of it. Can you help me out?”

Sammy let out a shaky breath and sat up. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t think I understand a lot of it, myself.”

“Just - start anywhere. Start at the beginning and keep talking,” Ben suggested.

“I’m not gonna go that far back,” Sammy said. “There’s… there’s a lot of history there. Lily and I have never really gotten along.”

“Okay,” Ben replied accommodatingly. “Then tell me what happened to Jack, that seems like a good starting point. You said he didn’t leave - what happened? Where is he?”

Sammy laughed but it was a horrible, humourless sound. “If I knew that, we wouldn’t be here.” He leaned back to the nightstand and picked up his wallet, reaching in and taking out the chain he kept around his neck during the day. He put it in the palm of his hand and held it out towards Ben, showing him the ring that was on the end of it. Sammy didn’t say anything and Ben let him have the silence for a moment, though there was a look of confusion again on Ben’s face.

“Jack gave this to me,” he admitted, breaking the silence, and as he said it he saw the dawning realization on Ben’s face. “He  _ didn’t _ leave the FBI, Ben. He wouldn’t.”  _ He wouldn’t leave me _ , he doesn’t add, because he’d fought Ben enough on the point that you never know what anyone will do to say it. 

“So you-” Ben started, “and Jack?”

“Yeah,” Sammy said, with a huffed laugh. “Me and Jack.”

“Were you…?” Ben asked hesitatingly. 

“Engaged. Not - not married.”

Ben leaned over and wrapped his arms about Sammy, startling him out of the fog that had begun to form in his brain. Sammy hugged him back. “What happened?” Ben asked again, voice slightly muffled in Sammy’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Sammy replied. “Jack… he had these projects,” he started. “He got really into King Falls and I - I didn’t think anything of it at the time, it was just like every other project he got into but. But then it was worse - he wasn’t eating, he wasn’t sleeping. He was getting weird calls, letters, notes left at our office, and then. Then one day I woke up and he just  _ wasn’t there _ . He wasn’t  _ anywhere _ , Ben,” Sammy said, and he could feel the desperation rising in his voice as he tried not to relive that horrible morning. “His car was running and there was a bag in the trunk, and we couldn’t find Jack anywhere.”

“That’s - that’s awful, Sammy. I’m so sorry,” Ben said, and Sammy is surprised to find that he believes him. “I’ll help you look, okay? I’ll do anything in my power to help.”

“You can’t, Ben, it’s - it’s too dangerous. I’ve done some research, and… the best answer I have is that it has something to do with the Devil’s Doorstop, and the Shadows. It’s too risky.” 

“You’re not going to stop looking, though,” Ben argued. “And I’m not going to let you do it alone anymore, understood? I love you, Sammy. You’re like my brother - is this what you were thinking about last night?” he asked suddenly.

Sammy nodded. “Yeah.”

Ben pulled back a little. “I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t tell me this before,” he said. “I understand, but - I’m just so sorry you had to hurt like this alone.”

“You wouldn’t have understood if I’d told you,” Sammy said sadly. “And it isn’t something I’d  _ want _ you to understand.”

“I understand more than you think I do,” Ben admitted. “I never told you why Emily knows so much about the rainbow lights, did I?”

Sammy shook his head.

“I moved back for my residency around the time Emily moved to town,” he said. “She isn’t from here originally. I was at the library a lot, basically all my free time, because I thought  _ now _ was the time to study, I guess. That’s when we got close, and after about a year is when I messed it up and we stopped talking.” Ben took a deep breath. “Then about a month after that, I got a call from her mom saying she hadn’t seen Emily in three days. No one had. And then she showed up in the ER, and she wouldn’t talk to me. She wouldn’t talk to  _ anyone _ . I only found out later, when we started talking again, that she’d - had an incident. She doesn’t like to call it an abduction, but… there isn’t really another word for it. She lost three days, almost four.” Ben sighed. “So it’s… it’s different than with you and Jack. Emily’s back, and she’s safe, but I didn’t do anything about it. So I think I get it - that, that distance.”

Sammy was quiet for a moment. “God, we’re a mess,” he muttered. 

Ben laughed. “Sure seems like it.” He looked at Sammy earnestly. “We’re gonna get Jack back, okay? I’m gonna help you, no matter what you think. But right now, I think I have to go to the radio station.”

Sammy nodded. “Yeah, you - you don’t know Lily, but she doesn’t like to be kept waiting. I’ll stay here.”

Ben leaned in for another hug. “I’ll be back to fill you in.” He left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Sammy in the silence.

Sammy looked down at the chain he was still holding and put it around his neck, not bothering to tuck it in immediately like he normally would. He thought about going back to sleep, but he knew that with the anxiety and adrenaline humming through his veins that that would be impossible. So he got up, got dressed, and when he got down to the dining room he found Betty already up sipping coffee.

“Good morning,” she greeted with a smile. She pushed a cup of coffee towards him, already made and steaming hot. “I heard some raised voices this morning,” she said evenly. “Thought you might need a little pick-me-up.”

Sammy smiled at her gratefully and took a sip of the coffee. “This is great, thank you. I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

She shook her head. “I’m an early riser, don’t worry about me. You sounded pretty upset, though.”

“If you’ll forgive me, I don’t really want to talk about it,” Sammy said quickly. “I just sort of… dealt with that, with Ben. It was… someone I was surprised to hear from, and that I didn’t really want to.”

“I’ll let you have your privacy,” she allowed. “It was probably pretty draining this early in the morning, anyway. But… if you ever need motherly advice, I’m willing to give it.”

Sammy sort of felt like he wanted to cry at that, surprised that he hadn’t cried already that morning. “Thanks, Betty. I really appreciate it.” He sat down and took another sip of the coffee, examining the grain in the tabletop. He thought about telling her something, some small part of the truth, and the thought of it alone made something ugly in his stomach rear its head so he kept his mouth shut. Sammy wasn’t used to opening up and being honest, and he felt there had been enough of that already.

 

Ben was back within an hour. “Tim called in,” he announced. “She said that he used to, sometimes, when he was up at night. She pulled the tape for me and I listened to it. He was all - frantic and afraid. He kept talking about the institute and the line went dead, so she called Troy who confirmed that someone had called 911 to the Science Institute. Specifically the fire department.”

“So… can we do anything about that?” Sammy asked. “We aren’t the fire department, unless I missed something.”

Ben held up his phone. “I recorded the tape she played for me, so I have evidence here of Tim saying he’s at the Science Institute and wants to go home.”

Sammy sighed. “I don’t know if that’s enough, on our own. I think we have to call Spears, now.”

Ben agreed so Sammy called her. 

“Hello?” she greeted.

“Hi, yeah, we’re in King Falls. It was just supposed to be a holiday thing,” Sammy lied, “but Tim’s gone missing again and we got some weird calls. Can you back us up if we go over to check it out?”

She sighed and Sammy knew her well enough to know that she was putting her head in her hand. “Fine. Just  _ try _ not to stir up too much, okay? There’s only so much I can do.”

“Awesome, thank you!” Ben said quickly. “You’re the best!” He hung up before she could say anything else. “Well, that went well.”

Sammy echoed Reagan’s sigh. “Sure. She’s gonna be  _ so _ mad when we get back, you know that, right?”

Ben shrugged. “When  _ isn’t _ she mad at us?”

“Mad at  _ you _ ,” Sammy corrected. “She likes me. Or, she did - depends what happens here if that stays true.”

Ben conceded the point. “That’s fair. She -” he stopped, and Sammy waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.

“She - what?” he prompted.

Ben licked his lips, clearly uncomfortable and regretting that he had started to say whatever it was. “She knows about Jack, doesn’t she?” he asked after a moment.

“Yes,” Sammy admitted. “She knows… everything. Can we be done talking about that for today?” he asked. 

Ben nodded quickly. “Of course, yeah. I shouldn’t have asked. Let’s go check out the Institute.”

Sammy followed him out of the house and was struck by just how much had happened. He had thought that he would never tell Ben about Jack, or anything related, but he had and Ben didn’t seem to think any less of Sammy. More than anything, Sammy was struck by just how well Ben had taken the information, and realizing that maybe he had needed to tell Ben. Even if he couldn’t let Ben endanger himself by looking for Jack, maybe Sammy had needed to tell him about it anyway.

 

Troy was still on the scene along with a truck from the local fire department when they pulled up.

“Hey, Troy!” Ben called over to him as he jumped out of his car. Sammy unfolded himself from the passenger seat and followed.

Troy waved at them but looked confused. “Hey, boys,” he replied slowly. “What are you doing here? Hardly seems like a case for the FBI.”

Sammy looked around, making sure they had some space to talk in at least relative privacy. He lowered his voice anyway when he spoke. “Tim called the radio station,” he said quickly. “He talked about the institute. It might be connected.”

Troy’s eyes widened. “Oh. Okay. Yeah. Well - I don’t know much, what with it being so soon, but the firefighters said they saw someone leaving the scene. A masked vigilante type,” he said, putting heavy implication into his words even though Sammy couldn’t tell what that meant.

“You don’t mean-?” Ben asked, clearly understanding what Troy was leaving unspoken..

Troy nodded. “They think it was The Dark.”

Ben’s eyes lit up with childlike joy. “Oh, boy,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve heard about him over the last few months, but we haven’t had a run-in. Are you sure?”

“Well, can’t be  _ entirely _ sure at this juncture,” Troy said diplomatically, “but it sure seems likely.”

“Why would The Dark set the Science Institute on fire?” Ben asked.

“Better question,” Sammy interrupted, “ _ who _ is ‘The Dark’?” He made quotation marks around the title with his fingers.

Troy and Ben turned to look at him. “Haven’t you heard of him?” Ben asked. “He’s been doling out vigilante justice all around town. Mostly dealing with the Williams’ boys, but still!”

Sammy shrugged. “I’m not even entirely sure who the Williams’ boys are. That’s not really our area.”

“Yeah, you know Jacob Williams,” Ben reminded him. “We had that run in with him when we got the info about bigfoot?”

“Oh, I think I repressed that,” Sammy said. “So thanks for bringing it back up to the surface. But seriously - The Dark is a vigilante?”

Troy nodded. “Just about, yeah. Doesn’t cause me much trouble, ‘cept sometimes people call him on trespassing ‘cause he climbs on rooftops. But - not much trouble.”

“I think I got it. What problem does he have with the Science Institute, though?” Sammy asked.

“I don’t know.” Troy shrugged. “He always says he stands for ‘truth and justice’ or something like that, so maybe he thought they were on the wrong side of the law.”

“Got that right,” Sammy muttered. Just as he was about to ask something else, he saw Leland Hill leaving the building. 

“What are you two doing here?” Hill asked gruffly, marching over. “I thought I told you to not come back.”

Sammy held up his hands defensively. “We don’t mean any harm; we’re here investigating the fire.”

Hill didn’t look convinced. “You have five minutes to vacate the premises.” He stalked off towards the firemen.

“Are you really supposed to be here?” Troy asked cautiously and Ben nodded a little bit too vigorously. 

“We have permission,” he answered evasively.

Troy regarded them silently for a moment. “I think you two better clear out,” he suggested. “Until you have a better reason. I don’t want to have to arrest you.”

Ben looked like he was going to argue so Sammy grabbed his arm and started to pull him back to the car. “Thanks, Troy,” he said. “I can’t promise we won’t be back.”

“That’s fine, just keep safe,” Troy replied as Sammy shoved Ben into the driver’s seat and got himself into the other side.

 

It was finally nearing noon when they got back into town, and Ben pulled over to call Emily to join them for lunch so that they could fill her in on the events of the morning. He thought that she deserved to know because she had alerted them to the fire in the first place.

“What happened?” she asked as the arrived, so they told her about The Dark and Leland Hill. “You two have to be careful,” she cautioned when they finished.

“I know,” Ben said earnestly. “And we are, but this is important.”

She didn’t look convinced, but also let the topic drop. “Do you think The Dark knows about Tim?”

Sammy shrugged. “We have no way of knowing that, or what his motives where for this, or even if he really did it.” His phone buzzed before anyone could keep theorizing. He checked the caller ID and winced, showing it to Ben. “Hi, Reagan,” he answered it, tensley. 

“Can you tell me why  _ Roland Northwood _ just called me?” she asked angrily, forgoing pleasantries.

“I didn’t think we were so important he would personally call.”

Reagan sighed. “Don’t get smart with me.”

“I think it’s because Leland Hill hates us,” Sammy replied, aiming for a light tone.

Reagan was silent for a long moment. “Let me rephrase,” she said slowly, and Sammy could almost hear her gritted teeth. “Why does  _ Leland Hill _ hate you?”

“Remember our first visit to King Falls?” Sammy asked. “It’s more of that.”

“Tim Jensen again?”

“Yeah, and the - the dopplegangers,” Sammy admitted. “We think it’s all connected.”

“Is it related to-”

“No,” he said quickly, because he didn’t think he could bear to hear Jack’s name again after all the chaos. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay,” she replied with a pause. “Okay, I’ll back you up here, but - God, Sammy, just… try not to get arrested? I don’t know how much power I can  _ actually _ pull for you, here. Be careful.”

“We always are,” he assured her, and her scoff indicated that she wasn’t reassured. “So… do you think we can head back over there without getting in trouble?” Sammy asked cautiously.

“I have grey hairs because of you,” Reagan accused. “But yes.”

 

They went back to the Science Institute as soon as they were done lunch. They’d spent the time with Emily theorizing about the clones - though Sammy was still reticent to call them that - and where Tim was. 

The Fire Department was still on the scene when they got back, though they weren’t climbing around the rubble as much anymore. Now that the chaos had subsided, Sammy could tell that only one wall had been damaged, and the fire had created a gap in it, but that the building complex overall was fine.

Sammy and Ben approached a cluster of firemen near the truck and showed them their badges, asking to see whoever was in charge. They pointed them towards a parked car a little farther away from the building, outside of which stood an older man.

“Are you the fire marshal?” Sammy asked.

The man nodded. “Yeah. And who are you?”

They showed him their badges again. “Agents Stevens and Arnold. We’re investigating the fire, as well. Can you tell us what you think happened?”

“Pretty clearly arson,” the man said with a shrug. “The fire patterns are consistent with it, too localized. A natural fire would have spread out more.”

“Can you show us around?” Ben asked. “We don’t exactly have… fire training.”

He sighed and reached into his car, pulling out a set of paper masks and handing them each one before putting one on himself. “Follow me,” he directed, walking over to the burnt out section. “Watch your step,” he said, indicating the uneven ground covered in chunks of partially burned beams and plaster. 

The three of them entered the room that was affected and it was wide, cavernous, and completely empty. 

“Did they clear things out after you arrived?” Sammy asked. 

The fire marshal shook his head. “It was empty when we put it out.”

Ben started to make a tour of the room, looking at the walls, but there was no indication that anything had ever been there. Even the paint was even, aside from the scorch marks. “Why would they just… have an empty room?”

“Not really my area,” the marshal answered. “Kinda thought that might be yours.”

The door opened and Leland Hill entered the room, barely concealed anger clear in the lines of his body. “I’m told you two are the investigators of our insurance claim?” he asked, addressing Sammy and Ben.

“Yes,” Sammy replied, even though this was the first he was hearing about it. “Why might someone want to start a fire on your property?”

Hill pressed his lips together. “I don’t know. We’re simply a private business.”

Sammy and Ben met each others’ eyes across the room. “What was this room used for, Mr. Hill?” Ben asked.

“Storage.” Hill crossed his arms.

“A storage room with no storage?”

“We just didn’t have a need for it yet,” Hill answered. “It’s better to be prepared.”

“Can we see some security footage of this area?” Sammy spoke up. “I think it would be helpful to see a firsthand account.”

“Of course,” Hill said reluctantly. He turned on his heel and left the room without waiting for them, leaving Sammy and Ben half-jogging to catch up to him in the hall. 

Hill didn’t turn back as they walked silently through the halls, and Sammy noticed Ben pause, put a finger to his lips, and turn around. It wasn’t long before Ben was running back again, trying to make as little noise as possible. Sammy raised his eyebrow at him and Ben shook his head, mouthing  _ later _ at him. Sammy just nodded, and then Hill stopped suddenly. “This is the security room,” he said, indicating a room that looked identical to all the others on the hallway. He opened the door and let them in.

The room was small and crowded with monitors on the walls and a small desk with a single chair. Leland took it and pulled up some footage. “This is all we have from last night.”

Sammy watched as a blurry camera flipped between an image of a plain hallway, identical to the one they were just in, and a plain exterior wall. After a few seconds, a man in black ran up, sprayed something on the wall, caught a flame on the bottom of it, and ran away. The fire moved quickly, climbing up the wall and covering it before the tap reset. The entire incident lasted less than fifteen seconds.

“He never looks at the camera, so he is as of yet unidentified,” Hill told them. “We would… appreciate… if you could track this man down.”

“We’ll do our best,” Ben promised. “You can trust us.”

Hill pressed his lips together and stood up. “Will that be all?”

Sammy and Ben shared a look. “I think so,” Sammy replied. “Is there a number where we can contact you for more information?”

Leland Hill met his eye. “No,” he answered simply, and he turned around and left the room.

 

Sammy waited until they were back in the car to bring up Ben’s little disappearing act. “Did you see anything?” he asked.

“I think the room that we came in through was the one that Emily and I saw last time,” Ben informed him. “With the big glass tubes? I don’t know when they moved them, or why. But when I looked in another room, I saw a different - pod, thing. Like - have you watched the Alien movies?”

“Unfortunately.”

“They’re good so that was unwarranted. But anyway - the hypersleep pods they have. Like rows and rows of those, filling the room.”

Sammy tried to picture it and the image was… horrifying, to say the least. “Were there… people?” he asked reluctantly.

Ben nodded. “All the ones I could see were full. I didn’t want to go in, though.”

“Who do you think they are?”

“I think they’re the clones,” Ben answered simply. “I think that’s where they… keep them.”

Sammy shuddered. “I’m still not sure I’m on board with that but it’s creepy.”

“I’m sorry I started this whole… situation,” Ben said. “Since we’re supposed to be on vacation right now.”

“No it’s - it’s fine. I want to help Tim. What would I be doing anyway?” Sammy said lightly. “Sitting alone in my depressing apartment?”

Ben looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “That… wasn’t really your plan, was it?”

Sammy shrugged. “I wasn’t lying when I told your mom that I don’t talk to my parents, and my only other family - well. There’s no one I’d want to spend the holidays with besides you, right now.”

“That’s… really sad,” Ben said. “But thank you. I would have invited you, if I’d known.”

Sammy reached over and patted Ben on the shoulder briefly. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. I didn’t want you to know.”

“That isn’t as reassuring as you think it is.”

 

Sammy woke up to someone politely knocking on the guest room door and hauled himself out of bed to open it. He was surprised to see Ben, waiting patiently but already vibrating with energy to start the day. Sammy spared a thought to how much caffeine Ben probably consumed in a day, and hoped that the number was lower than the one he suspected.

“We should talk to The Dark,” Ben announced.

Sammy blinked. “How do you want to find a vigilante with a secret identity? We can’t exactly look him up in the yellow pages.”

He could see the moment Ben’s mind stuttered to a stop, pausing Ben’s movements for a moment before he restarted again. “That’s true,” he acknowledged. “But we could ask Troy when and where The Dark is normally spotted!”

“Sure. You call him while I get dressed.”

Ben nodded and walked away, leaving Sammy to get ready. He went to the living room when he was all set and found Ben looking much more hesitant now than he was before.

“What?” Sammy asked, preparing himself to hate the answer.

Ben bit his lip. “Troy told me that he doesn’t really know where The Dark sets up, just where he ends up when Troy gets called in to deal with him.”

Sammy twirled his hand in a  _ go on _ gesture, looking at Ben expectantly.

“He also said that the one person who might know… is Lily Wright,” Ben finished.

No amount of preparing could have kept Sammy from hating that answer, but he didn’t want to drag Ben down into his boiling pit of grief and hurt and rage. “Let’s go talk to her, then,” he said, trying not to let any of his inner turmoil show in his tone or on his face.

Ben looked surprised by Sammy’s answer. “Are you sure? I can go alone again.”

“I’m sure,” Sammy replied. “You’ll be there as a buffer, it’ll be fine.”

Ben gave him an extremely skeptical look. “If you say so. But I’m trusting you to not get us arrested here, okay? Because I  _ will _ throw you under the bus with Spears.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Sammy promised. “I’ll be perfectly civil.”

“Sure. You know I’ve met you, right?”

Sammy rolled his eyes and took Ben’s shoulder, steering him towards the front door. “Let’s get this over with, then, okay? If I end up arrested, you can say ‘I told you so’.”

 

Even though her show had ended over an hour earlier, Lily was still in the radio station when Sammy and Ben arrived. Ben called her from outside the front door to announce their arrival, and Lily came down to speak to them in the parking lot. It didn’t get past Sammy and she wasn’t letting them inside the station. 

Lily crossed her arms. “What is  _ he _ doing here?” she asked Ben.

“Hi, Lily. Nice to see you, too,” Sammy snarked, and Ben gave him a warning look.

“We were just told that you might have some information about The Dark,” Ben said. “We want to know where we might find him or who he is, so we can ask him about the incident yesterday.”

Lily stared at them silently for so long that Sammy could see Ben start to fidget uncomfortably. He was used to her moods, though, and had endured the silent treatment more than once in his many, many years of knowing her. “I don’t know who he is,” she admitted finally. “But he normally pops up around sunset on Old Bombing Range Road.”

“Thanks so much!” Ben replied quickly, grabbing Sammy’s arm and starting to pull him back to the car. “We really appreciate the help.”

The last view that Sammy got of Lily before Ben pulled out of the parking lot was of her shaking her head and turning around to go back inside. He could almost feel the force of her eye roll from across the lot.

 

Sammy and Ben ended up at the library because they didn’t want to just go wait for sunset at the Arnold’s house. Emily was working, but she greeted them happily when they arrived and pointed them towards a private study room so they could do some research.

Ben had suggested they look into the Science Institute a little more, just to see what they could find in the public records, so he went out into the library to track down any records he could find there while Sammy stayed in the room and look at the online newspaper archives. It was easy to locate articles from when the building was being constructed and when, a few months later, the Institute officially opened for business, because Ben could identify for him the month and year when that happened.

“Look at what I found,” Sammy said when Ben got back with a small stack of books and folders. “There’s about twenty articles over the last four years that mention the Science Institute funding local initiatives that Grishams’ government has put up.” He turned his laptop towards Ben to show him the many tabs he had open. “It looks like, in a lot of these cases, those things wouldn’t have been gotten done without their help. Some of them are good - like how they paid for part of the rebuilding efforts with the library - but some aren’t.” He flipped to a different tab as Ben set down his stack. “Like this one to swap out public benches with ones that are designed to stop homeless people from sleeping on them.”

“That’s kind of what I found, too,” Ben said, tapping the top of the pile he’d amassed. “They donated to his original campaign, and recently to his re-election campaign. Without them… it’s hard to say.” Ben sighed and sat down. “There’s good stuff they’ve helped with in there, along with the bad.”

“Grisham’s definitely in their pocket,” Sammy stated, “but is there anything… illegal about it? It  _ seems _ like they’re buying his power, but is there proof of it?”

Ben shook his head just as his phone started to buzz, audible in the relative quiet. “Hello?” he answered quickly, and as the person replied his eyes cut to Sammy. “We’ll be right there, Mary,” he said simply, and hung up.

Ben stood up and picked up the stack of papers. “I have to bring these back to Emily.”

“What was that about?” Sammy asked, shoving his laptop back into its bag. “Where are we going?”

Ben struggled to open the door around the papers. “Tim’s back at Mary’s house.”

 

Tim was asleep on the living room couch when they arrived, and Mary looked at Sammy and Ben apologetically. “He’s been exhausted,” she said quietly, leading them through the living room and into the dining room.

“Are you sure that’s him?” Sammy asked, and Mary sighed.

“I hope so,” she replied. “The other Tim was... violent and angry the times he’s come back. But this one showed up and was just - just so tired. He almost fell asleep in the doorway.”

“If this is him, then… is this… over?” Ben asked, looking more towards Sammy than Mary.

Mary shrugged. “That’s up to you boys, I think. I appreciate the response, but I don’t want either of you gettin’ in trouble when Tim’s safe for now. Could do more harm than good.”

“There’s no guarantee this won’t happen again,” Sammy reminded them both. “The Science Institute has taken Tim twice, and we don’t really understand why.”

“He’s a loose end,” Ben replied.

Tim’s voice came from the other room. “Mary?”

“We’re in here,” she answered, and then Tim was standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes.

“Hey there, Ben, Sammy,” he said, giving them both a tired smile. “What’s brought you here?”

Sammy and Ben paused to look at each other. “You,” Sammy answered. “We were looking for you. Again. Care to explain what happened this time?”

Tim walked into the dining room and sat heavily in one of the chairs. “The other… me, I guess, showed up and took me to the institute. I don’t know how long it was, but I managed to get away. They didn’t take my clothes this time,” he added with a short laugh, “so I managed to get a few pictures.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the photos app, flipping through a few mostly dark photos. He raised the brightness for them and zoomed into key details, showing them a dark room with a few glowing points of light. Then he swiped to one that was all bright, washed out in yellow light with the sleeping face of a person that neither Sammy or Ben recognized in the center of it. “There were guards coming so I had to stop taking pictures and hide,” Tim explained as he hit the end of his camera roll.

“Can you e-mail those to me?” Ben asked, and Tim nodded. They exchanged contact info and Tim sent them over. 

When Sammy looked out the window, he noticed that the sun was finally starting to set. “We should probably go talk to The Dark,” he suggested, and Ben nodded.

“We’re really glad you’re back, Tim,” Ben said.

Mary smiled. “Thank you. Go home and get some rest, okay?”

“Of course,” Sammy told her. “You two do that, too.”

She rolled her eyes. “With two kids? Never.”

 

Ben drove up and down the length of Old Bombing Range Road twice, watching the sun complete its descent, before he started to give up. “Should we go over to the Science Institute?” he asked. “We have the pictures from Tim, after -” suddenly, he slammed on the breaks and Sammy felt his knees press painfully into the dashboard.

Dramatically silhouetted in the headlights was a man in a head to toe fake-leather suit, which shined slightly in the light. “It is I, saviour of King Falls!” he shouted, barely audible through the closed windows. “The Dark!”

Sammy fought back an eye roll and got out of the car. “What the fuck, dude, we almost hit you!” he replied.

“Nothing can kill the Dark!” the man replied.

“Uh, I think a car doing 80 on a dark road might do the trick, actually,” Ben said, getting out of the car.

Sammy took his badge out his pocket and tilted it so that it caught the headlight and The Dark could see it. “Dollar store Batman antics aside,” he said, “can you tell us why you set that fire?”

“Are you the FBI agents?” The Dark asked. “Lily told me you might be looking for me.”

Sammy sighed. “Of course she did. Yes, we are. Now explain yourself.”

The Dark dropped his tense stance and shrugged. “They’re villains.”

“That’s not really an answer,” Ben replied. “Do you know something about what they’re up to?”

“I don’t know what you’ve found, but they’re up to some  _ weird _ shit in there.”

“We know. Did you see anything? Like, evidence?” Sammy asked.

“They’re making people,” The Dark answered. “Like, duplicates.”

“Clones,” Ben said quickly, and the Dark nodded.

Sammy sighed. “Do you have  _ proof _ ?” he asked again.

“I mean… I saw it,” he answered, clearly uncomfortable now.

Sammy turned and got back in the car. “Let’s go, Ben. This idiot didn’t get anything concrete.”

Ben followed his lead. “Get out of the road, The Dark,” he said before closing his door. He revved the engine to punctuate his point.

“Be afraid of The Dark!” the masked vigilante yelled, before running out of their way and back into the forest.

“What a fucking asshole,” Sammy muttered.

Ben didn’t reply. “Should we… go to the Science Institute now?” he asked.

“We have as much evidence as we’re gonna get, I think. Might as well.” He pressed his hands into his eyes, suddenly tired. “What’s our game plan?”

Ben drummed his fingers on the wheel. “There aren’t really any solid laws about cloning… but I think I have an idea.”

 

If it wasn’t so dark, Sammy would have deja vu to the first time they’d saved Tim Jensen and gone to the Science Institute. Leland Hill stood outside with his arms crossed, illuminated by the headlights of two cars parked behind them as well as their own approaching ones.

“You’re trespassing,” Hill said when they got out of the car.

“We have pictures,” Ben replied. “If you don’t stop your experiments and terrorizing the people of this town, we’ll release them.”

That made Hill pause and even in the low light Sammy could see that that had surprised him. “I wouldn’t concern myself with any of that,” he said. “Unless you don’t get off my property.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Ben said, and he turned back to get into the car. As soon as Sammy was also in, he turned around. “That was weird, huh,” he said idly.

“Do you think he’s gonna stop anything? Or that he believes us?” Sammy asked.

Ben shrugged. “I have no idea, honestly. I don’t think I understood what I said.”

“It’s a bandaid, at least.”

Ben hummed in agreement. “Hey,” he said suddenly, reaching out and tapping the dashboard clock which indicated it was just past midnight. “Merry Christmas.”

Sammy couldn’t help but smile. “Merry Christmas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you enjoyed! I might post the epilogue later today tbh but I haven't decided.


	3. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the epilogue! I was gonna post it tomorrow but... no one ever reads the second chapter of a fic people always wait for it to be all posted. So.

Sammy took a deep, steadying breath before unlocking the door to his apartment. He flipped the lights on and let Ben follow him in.

“Well, this is home,” he said, with a flourish of his arm that he then let drop to his side heavily.

Ben looked around. “It’s… very normal.”

“What were you expecting?” Sammy asked.

Ben shrugged. “I dunno. Something dungeon-y, maybe? Or really messy, since you never let me visit before.”

“You _know_ why,” Sammy said, hanging his coat up in the hall closet with his back to Ben.

“Yeah, I guess, but still,” Ben replied. Sammy could hear him shuffle around and then stop and when he turned around he saw that Ben held a photo frame in his hands. It was nearly identical to the others which all lay face down on the bookshelf, the side tables, in the bedroom... “Is this Jack?” he asked, holding up to the photo and pointing to the man standing between Sammy and Lily in the picture.

Sammy felt something rise in his throat, seeing that picture. It had been taken just after Sammy had gotten his job with the FBI - they all looked so young and happy. “Yeah,” he choked out. “That’s him.”

Ben made an inscrutable noise. “You didn’t tell me he was hot. Like, damn. He’s a solid ten.”

Sammy couldn’t help the almost-hysterical laugh that bubbled out of him.

“What’s so funny?” Ben asked, and Sammy just shook his head.

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Sammy answered. “It would go straight to his head.”

Ben set the picture down, but standing upright so that the photo was now facing out. “You _know_ I will. I need to know how you managed to bag someone _that_ hot - not that you aren’t attractive, but seriously.”

Sammy felt his mood sober. “You can’t -”

Ben reached over and put a hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “We’re gonna get him back,” he said. “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next fic posted in this series is gonna be a bit of an 'interlude' again but in a Much Different Way than the bad blood fic was an interlude.. I don't wanna spoil it too much but it's not a "case fic" the way the ones so far have been. Just trust me here.
> 
> Also! Please remember to comment if you enjoyed this fic or series, I really appreciate it :)


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